February 16, 2010
(Mainichi Japan)
As the figure skating pair Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, representing Russia, finished their performance in the short program at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on Sunday (Monday Japan time), their coach Tamara Moskvina praised the duo with a smile.
"Excellent!" said the Russian coach and kissed her Japanese student Kawaguchi, 28, who was wearing a white costume modeled after a swan.
Moskvina, 68, may have been a run-of-the-mill kind of skater, but started to show her extraordinary talent after she switched to concentrate on her coaching career. She has trained four gold and four silver medalist pairs since the Sarajevo Winter Olympics in 1984.
It was during the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998 that Moskvina first came into contact with Kawaguchi. The young Japanese girl was fascinated with the skating performance of the pair Moskvina trained and sent a fax message asking her for training.
At first, Moskvina turned down Kawaguchi's request, thinking she was just an enthusiastic figure skating fan. However, when Kawaguchi continued to show her eagerness to practice in Russia, Moskvina finally decided to accept the Japanese student in 1999.
"She is a smart skater who never forgets what she has learned," thought Moskvina, who immediately noticed Kawaguchi's potential.
Kawaguchi is only 157 centimeters tall and is small compared to other European skaters. But the Russian coach noticed her student's outstanding physical ability. It was also Moskvina who advised Kawaguchi to switch to pair skating after she had hard time achieving satisfactory results in single performance.
More than anything, Moskvina appreciates the iron will of her Japanese student, who moved to Russia without knowing the language in her ardent desire to become a better figure skater. Furthermore, Kawaguchi recently gave up her Japanese citizenship and obtained Russian nationality to participate in the Olympic Games.
"I am so proud of Yuko. And I think Japanese people should be proud of her too. She is a strong Japanese girl who spares no effort for her dream," said the great mentor, who has been guiding Kawaguchi for over a decade.
"Like Tamara, I'd like to contribute to the ice skating not only as an athlete but also as a business operator (such as a skating club manager)," Kawaguchi said.
In the free skate scheduled for Monday, the Russian pair will compete against tough rivals from China and Germany, who finished first and second in the short program. But Moskvina is confident.
"I know it is going to be a tough competition, but I can feel the sense of victory," she said.
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